New entries this year include BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti and Ben Smith, Vice Media's Shane Smith and Gawker's Nick Denton.

Why he matters: Liberal media pundits cited Hannity's move from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. in October as evidence his influence was waning. Since then, his ratings are 27 percent higher in the key 25-to-45 demo than previous time-slot occupant On the Record With Greta Van Susteren, and the married father of two has a bigger audience than CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell combined. Hannity is the fourth-highest-rated cable news program in the demo. The conservative host also attracts an estimated 13 million listeners a week to his radio show, which makes him the second-most-popular political talker in the medium, trailing only Rush Limbaugh.

Proudest accomplishment: "I mentioned a couple of years ago on radio that if I was out of work, I'd move to North Dakota and work for the oil companies," says the host. "Some people who heard me packed up their bags and moved there, and now I'm getting calls from people thanking me because they're making $100,000 a year." Hannity says those conversations with radio listeners prompted him to schedule two days in the state for an upcoming TV segment. "It's killing me that 50 million people are on food stamps. My view is, government sucks, so we're going to bypass bureaucrats and help people who need help." Maybe it's that attitude that got Hannity some unsolicited press recently when he took some friends to dinner (among them a Duck Dynasty castmember and a U.S. senator) and left a $5,000 tip. "My first job was when I was 12 washing pots and pans for $2.25 an hour, so for years now I tip 100 percent," he explains.

What he does with a free day: "Anything outdoors is fun," says Hannity, adding that he skis, fishes and plays a mediocre game of golf (his best score is 84). His children, a son age 15 and daughter age 12, play competitive tennis. "So usually I'm traveling the country watching balls go back and forth," he says. "They won't let me warm them up anymore because I'm not good enough."

How his rivals view him: "I don't give a flying rip. But I think they're arrogant, egotistical, selfish, narcissistic morons. Their channel is horrible. They're on a mission 24/7 of left-wing radicalism. I'll leave it to you to decide who I'm talking about."